Completing a Merchandise Planning & Allocation (MP&A) Platform Vendor Selection for a Footwear Retailer
Clarkston Consulting recently partnered with a footwear company on a MP&A platform vendor selection. Read a synopsis of the project below or download the full case study.
Download the MP&A Platform Vendor Selection Case Study Here
The client, a multi-billion-dollar footwear company with global wholesale and retail operations, began their retail transformation journey in 2018. At this time, the client engaged Clarkston Consulting to perform a technologies assessment, where the core findings were: (1) the current retail systems lacked the technical foundation required to meet modern retail requirements, (2) the lack of a global solution had led to a highly customized system that was difficult to maintain, and (3) the lack of modern functionality and controls were making it difficult to compete in today’s advanced retail marketplace.
Clarkston’s recommendation was a Retail Technology Modernization Program, which encompassed three phases. This phase focused on Merchandising and Merchandise Planning and Allocation (MP&A) solutions, consisting of multiple functions/technologies, including merchandise planning, allocation planning, demand planning, assortment planning, price optimization, and others.
The client needed to leverage modern merchandising systems to support their merchandise teams across multiple functions (e.g., planning, allocations), enabling teams to evolve from excel-driven processes to integrated systems, allowing for more advanced capabilities and less reliance on manual processes. The Clarkston team started by working with the client to understand and assess their current merchandising processes. After assessing the current merchandising process, we put together a series of workshops discussing merchandising needs across process and system areas where we discussed current technology offerings across system areas – key functionality, best practices, and market trends.
As the Clarkston team discussed the landscape and the client needs, we focused on “breadth” to capture relevant vendors in the market, and with our knowledge of the marketplace, we identified 36 unique vendors addressing systems within the merchandising umbrella with a mix of established and emerging vendors. Additionally, through a series of workshops, we discussed system overviews, market trends, and best practices to determine a roadmap for the client and developed path forward across the technology landscape, prioritizing allocation / replenishment as a first step. From there, we moved into leading a Merchandising Vendor Selection.
Ultimately, Clarkston determined best path forward for the client, initially focusing on implementation of Allocation and Replenishment with multi-year plans to continue addressing their merchandising needs through demand planning, assortment planning, and merchandise planning. Starting with allocation and replenishment and continuing through the other systems, this will supply the client with analytic capabilities that allow them to support their processes while better supporting data-driven decision making.
Download the MP&A Platform Vendor Selection case study, and learn more about our MP&A Consulting Services by contacting us below.
Contributions by Rachel Ruth
